“FEB 7, 1961: Officials of the Departments of State and Defense, the White House, and the CIA meet to discuss the \u2018Agency Plan\u2019 and the \u2018JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] evaluation.\u2019 According to a memo on the meeting, \u2018while the soundness of the plan itself [is] at no time questioned, a number of questions [are] raised.\u2019 Specifically, the group discusses the ability of the strike force to reach the mountains from the landing site, the chances of a popular uprising in support of the invasion, the international political ramifications of the plan, and the need to introduce U.S. forces to ensure success. The group reaches no consensus on what course of action to recommend to the President [John F. Kennedy]. White House Adviser Richard Goodwin points out that the President has \u2018made it quite clear that if there were unresolved differences of opinion of the, Cuban problem, the persons concerned should come to the President’s office and in his presence orally set forth their arguments for his consideration and eventual decision.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n